Aurora-class battleship
The Aurora-class battleship was the primary warship of the Lantean fleet. These ships were armed with a considerable arsenal of drone and energy weapons. Aurora-class warships have interstellar hyperdrives, but could have them modified for much faster speeds. Built by the Lanteans, the Aurora-class is considered to be among the most advanced class of warship ever created. The Atlantis Expedition first encountered this class of ships in the form of the Aurora, and only four have been encountered since the fall of the Lanteans, excluding those built by the Asurans. The Lantean name for this class of ship has never been revealed. Overview Built by the Lanteans, the Aurora-class is considered to be among the most advanced class of warships ever created, with only the Asgard-modified ''Daedalus''-class seen to rival the power of at least older variants. It is unknown how an Asgard ''O'Neill''-class ship would fare against one of these vessels, but at peak capacity just one of them is more than a match for an entire fleet of Xindi warships or Goa'uld Ha'tak's. Design There are at least 3 variations of the Aurora-class design: *The Aurora variant is the largest seen, but little is known about it's defensive capabilities. *The Orion variant was much smaller than the Aurora. It did not have a Control chair on the bridge. *The Ares variant was almost identical to the Orion in exterior appearance, but the bridge was larger and had a Control chair in the center. It is unknown if these variants are actually the same class of ship - it is possible that the Orion and the Ares used by the Lantean fleet were not built as Aurora class battleships by the Lanteans and therefore may possess very different offensive and defensive abilities. If they were the same class, however, then it is likely that the variations came as upgrades to the original design, but it is unknown in which order the three seen variants were constructed. The Asurans use older variations of the Aurora class battleships. They are most similar in appearance to the Orion, but do not appear to be as powerful as they rely on outdated technology. Their drones do not appear to be able to destroy alien ships with the same ease as the Orion's, and their shields cannot withstand as much fire. Technology Command and control systems These spaceships contained a subspace communications array allowing them to send out distress signals or communicate at faster-than-light speeds with other vessels at interstellar distances. They can also project stable holograms onto other ships capable of also projecting sound, however sound cannot be transmitted back to the projecting ship. This may just be because of the massive difference in speed and the distance it was being transmitted and that when they are closer and travelling at a similar speed it may be possible. Offensive and defensive systems The Aurora-class boasts an arsenal of drone weapons that are capable of destroying a Asuran warship in mere seconds, and have shown the ability to bypass shielding systems used by the Asurans and Surai with great ease. They are very accurate and can hit multiple targets at a time, even after their host ship is destroyed. Auroras are also equipped with a more conventional energy weapon, which is unguided and far less powerful than drones but still capable of destroying Asuran ships and causing severe damage to Asuran warships. Shields The shields of the Aurora-class have been shown to mimic the contour of the hull. These shielding systems allow Aurora-class battleships to withstand intense weapons fire even when little power is being fed into them, and they have also been shown to protect Aurora-class battleships from the intense heat and pressure of the eruption of a super volcano for slightly more than four seconds (even though the ship in question had barely enough power to bring the hyperdrive online for a short jump into the outer orbit of the planet). However, the ship's hull appears much less durable, sustaining heavy damage even from phasers or F-302 torpedoes and easily being penetrated by Quantum phasers. Shields Energy and power systems Although it is unknown what the primary energy source of the Aurora-class is, the Lanteans were known to occasionally install a Zero Point Module to give them an extra 'boost'. Even without them the ships are capable of remaining active for long durations of time. In the first ever encountered Aurora-class battleship by the Federation, the Aurora, the power had remained active for 10,000 years maintaining the crew's stasis pods without a ZPM. Hyperdrive and propulsion systems The Aurora-class possesses the fastest sublight engines known to exist. Although they typically operated at speeds similar to those of Starfleet ships, they could be modified to travel at 99.9% the speed of light if the need would ever arise. However, it is unknown if the ship requires a Zero Point Module to travel at this speed. While no known Aurora-class battleships were equipped with intergalactic hyperdrives, it was possible for the crew of the ship to modify the hyperdrive engines to allow travel to other galaxies. It is possible the original limit was intentional, to prevent the Asurans from reverse-engineering their own intergalactic drive. Either way, even without being modified the hyperdrives on the Aurora-class are far superior to every other form of interstellar hyperdrive. Other systems To protect the crew in case of critical damage, the ship is equipped with several hundred stasis pods, at least enough to contain the entire crew. While in stasis the mind of each person can be connected through the ships main computer in a virtual construct where interaction is possible; however, over a long period of time (10,000 years), the pods do not protect the inhabitants from aging, they only slow it down considerably and prolong the life cycle to the point where the pod is the only thing keeping them alive. It is known, however, that the stasis pods aboard an Aurora-class battleship were not as efficient at slowing down the aging process as those in Lantean outposts. Interior Auxiliary control room Aurora-class battleships contain a secondary control center where ship systems can be controlled If the bridge was ever destroyed or made uninhabitable. From this position, a crewman was capable of tracking the activities of individuals throughout the ship, scan life signs, and control access to corridors. Numerous control terminals were present in the room, which mimic the consoles on Lantean outposts in appearance. Colonel Sheppard journeyed to the auxiliary bridge after the destruction of the Aurora's main bridge by a Asuran cruiser weapons fire. Through it, he was able to launch drones at the enemy ship and determine how many Asurans had boarded the vessel. It only has to be activated, then it can be used by anyone. Bridge The bridge of the Aurora-class controls most (if not all) basic systems required for the battleship to function. It is situated in the middle of the upper side of the ship with the front side being a large window. The bridge consists of panels and displays, but some designs also feature a Control chair for navigation that allows a person to control most if not all functions of the ship, is likely less advanced as it only recives input from the user's hand, much like those on Gateships. Brig These vessels contain brigs which are used to detain prisoners and appeared as metal bars which could hold enemies. On the Aurora, the brig is an empty room devided into two sections by bars with forcefields between them. On another Aurora-class battleships, the brig was smaller and used more physical wall and less forcefield. Both brigs are similar in design to the cells on Asuran warships. It is also possible that all variations of Aurora have both types of brig, used for storing different types, or different numbers, of prisoners. Weapons control platform Many of the qualities of an Aurora-class battleship are similar to that of a Lantean outpost. This includes the chair room, where a Lantean control chair, also known as a weapon's control platform, is present in the middle which allows the use of the ship's complement of drone weapons. Presumably, the ship's other weapons are also controlled here. It is located at the rear of the vessel and contained a visual screen on the wall which contained a display of certain systems. It was possible for a person to be sealed in the room as was the case with Larrin who was locked in the room by John Sheppard. Other locations *Captain's quarters *Drone storage *Hangar Bays: For use of Puddle Jumpers, vessel's of this class contain at least three bays, although more may exist. Known ships During the course of the Atlantis Expedition's tenure in the Kaleb system, several Aurora-class battleships have been encountered or referenced, the vast majority of which have remained unnamed, such as the [[Traveler's Aurora-class battleship|Traveler's Aurora-class battleship]]. Known ships include the Aurora, Ares, Orion (originally named Hippaforalkus), and Tria. Category:Federation starships